


Mission: (Im)possible

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Series: Imagine Tony & Bucky fills by hddnone [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier pretending to be Bucky, and still pines after Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 20:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: ITAB prompt:Hi, could you please write something about The Winter Soldier/Tony (not Bucky)? The Soldier has some of Bucky's memories and uses it to pretend to be Bucky, but he's not a 'real boy', will never be and has no interest in becoming. So, he pretends and lies to everyone, but then there is Tony, and The Soldier fells for him, and now he needs to somehow show Tony who he really is and convince to accept him. (Please, no The Soldier becoming Bucky Barnes again)





	Mission: (Im)possible

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at the ImagineTonyandBucky tumblr

**** “Mr. Barnes, Sir requests your presence in the workshop.”

The footage stills with the camera focused on Captain America instructing his Howling Commandos. Sergeant Bucky Barnes is in the background, staring down at the map on the table with intense scrutiny. A moment of which the Soldier has no memory. 

He rises from the couch and proceeds to the workshop. It is a simple thing to accept all requests as orders, and with his threat assessment of his new handlers the Soldier prioritizes the orders of Anthony Stark. 

The Soldier does not encounter any others on his way, so he waits until he’s coming out of the elevator to mimic the focus on Sergeant Barnes’ face. When he enters the workshop, Anthony Stark is, as typical, in motion. 

Stark gestures at screens, he chats with JARVIS, he steps out of the path of an errant bot. Then he turns to the Soldier and his face lights up.

“Barnes! Man of the hour. I have a present for you. It’s Christmas in July, or well, whatever month it is. Close enough. Come, come, come,” Stark beckons as he strides over to another workshop table.

The look of scrutiny from Sergeant Barnes serves the Soldier well as he approaches the table. 

“Here,” Stark boasts as he reveals a rifle.

The Soldier notes his own elevated heart rate. There are multiple high level threats present in the workshop, but no hostile action has yet been taken. Decision : wait for further input.

“Speechless? Look, don’t tell Nat or Steve - especially not Steve. Consider it a loan, or something. A tester, so you can give me feedback.”

The Soldier doesn’t move. Is this a test?

“Barnes?” Stark asks, now frowning, his fingers tapping against the arc reactor.

The Soldier asks himself what Bucky Barnes would do. 

“I thought Stark Industries doesn’t make weapons anymore,” he offers in a practiced Brooklyn drawl as he reaches for the gun.

Stark offers up a quick, insincere grin. “I only modified it a little, and it’s not for sale. I may be a little rusty though so give it a spin and let me know what I need to fix, yeah?”

“You givin’ me faulty goods, Stark?” 

The Soldier pastes a half-grin on his face, one that he’s copied from another film reel. He grips the gun tightly - the first weapon he’s been allowed since surrendering (most of) his knives upon entering the Tower. He has no need of a weapon to complete his current primary mission. He is enough of a weapon with his body alone. The weight of a loaded gun in his hands has no reason to lead to a decrease in heart rate. 

Still, if Stark ordered him to relinquish the gun, he is not certain he would comply.

“Well if I mixed up my weapons and it explodes on you or something, let me know. At least you and your supersoldier self should be able to survive the blast,” Stark tosses back. “You’ve figured out where the range is by now, right? And remember, this is our little secret.”

A classified mission. Parameters: test the rifle and provide feedback. A straightforward mission that is almost beneath the Soldier’s skills, but it will require stealth so that the Captain Rogers and the Black Widow do not discover this. 

The Soldier accepts, rifle in hand, and heads to the shooting range. 

He has been provided a weapon. He has not been allowed one since he surrendered to Captain Rogers weeks ago. He was told he did not need one, that he would not be in danger at the Tower. He was told he could not use one until he proved that Bucky Barnes was in control, that he was safe to the other occupants. Does Stark providing him with the gun mean that his primary mission of going undercover as Bucky Barnes has been successful?

The shooting range is empty of the other occupants. JARVIS displays targets at the far end, and the Soldier falls into the rhythm of aim, fire, aim, fire, aim, fire. Less kickback, he notes. A reinforced grip that stands up to his strength. The modifications from Stark have improved the performance of the gun, likely with the Soldier’s performance in mind.

When the provided ammunition runs out, the Soldier lowers the gun.

“Well done, Mr. Barnes. Full marks,” JARVIS says as he displays the Soldier’s statistics. 

The Soldier reviews his performance. He hit all targets, but his firing speed and precision are also graded. There are minor corrections to his stance to improve his ability to turn for more peripheral targets.

“The video file will be available to Sir, but he would still appreciate your verbal feedback.”

“Understood,” the Soldier replies as he dismisses his statistics from view.

JARVIS has been the most understandable and reliable of all the occupants of the tower. Hydra had cameras watching the Soldier and the entire compound, so being constantly monitored was not new. JARVIS is not meant to be a spy or a threat, Stark had explained, but if the Soldier displayed harmful tendencies than JARVIS would act. 

JARVIS, a computer program with intelligence, but with defined parameters in which he operates. A fellow Asset, only built starting from electronics rather than from a man - built by Stark. 

JARVIS had even volunteered the parameters of his monitoring, and despite repeated testing the Soldier had yet to see JARVIS exceed them. 

A better Asset.

The Soldier would ready himself for a competition, as frequently happened with Hydra, only the Soldier no longer qualifies as an Asset. He abandoned Hydra and is no longer their Asset. For the Avengers, he has no use yet - not until he has fully succeeded in his mission to take Bucky Barnes’ place.

But Stark provided him a rifle against regulation. The Soldier is approaching success.

“Well?” Tony asks, stopping himself from spinning in circles on his chair when the Soldier walks back into the workshop.

He provides a report of his activities and observations, despite the knowledge that Stark will watch the video surveillance if he didn’t already do so. As his mission parameters included feedback of the weapon, he included several critiques of the firing power and trigger speed.

Tony blows out a breath and shakes his head. “Damn. Rustier than I thought. I’ll fix it.”

The Soldier hesitates. Unsure what prompts him, he continues, “It is operating under acceptable conditions.”

Stark snorts and turns away, typing at a keyboard. “Glowing recommendation. You hear that JARVIS? ‘It’s functional’. Alert the press.” Stark then turns back and points a finger at him. “Functioning isn’t acceptable. I want a gun that will blow your mind and make you weep. I want amazing, extraordinary - one that you’ll have sex with because you love it so much and won’t want to put it down. I want full efficiency; I want  _ the best _ .”

The Soldier remains in place, stuck though nothing grips him. His body feels hot, his internal heat increasing. The servos in the arm whir to release the heat, though it has minimal effect on the temperature of his system. The Soldier is not the best, he reminds himself. JARVIS is The Asset here. 

Stark coughs. “Sorry. Might have gotten a little carried away there. Uh...you want to hang onto that?” he asks, waving toward the rifle still in the Soldier’s hands. “Don’t blame you if you don’t want to touch it again. J, get me the basic schematics on this, I think we need to start over if we’re going to sup this up like we need to.”

He is not ordered. He does not have to release the gun. He has no more ammunition, but that is an easily solvable problem. Still, it could be a test and he must succeed in his primary mission. 

The Soldier will not go back to Hydra, back to the Chair. 

He sets the gun on the workshop table. Stark does not turn to look, already absorbed into his schematics. The Soldier may even have earned an upgraded weapon. 

This should qualify as a success. He has succeeded in his mission of testing the rifle and providing relevant feedback. He has succeeded in gaining access to a weapon and providing evidence that he is not a danger to the other occupants. He has succeeded in adopting the mannerisms of Bucky Barnes.

The dismissal from Stark does not feel like a success.

Eighty-two percent of the time, the Soldier finds that occupancy in the workshop is calming. Captain Rogers teases him that he likes the workshop because of Bucky’s constant awe of the future from Before. The Soldier remembers enough to offer up a smile and a shrug that looks natural, given his practice. 

Under normal parameters, Soldier acknowledges that he finds this place calming because of  how he can hide in the workshop. 

JARVIS is constantly monitoring, the Soldier knows, but Stark does not. Stark does not look for Bucky Barnes out of the corner of his eye, like the Black Widow does. Stark does not expect a response from Bucky Barnes when he speaks, like Captain Rogers does. Stark works, he builds, he creates, and he can have entire conversations all on his own with only a look from the Soldier. 

The Soldier does not have to be as careful about cloaking himself in Bucky Barnes’ mannerisms when in the workshop. JARVIS, as the best Asset, has certainly observed this difference, and yet the Soldier is still allowed entry.

Meaning the Soldier has seen Stark buried in JARVIS’ code, repairing and upgrading. The Soldier has seen Stark fix a bent strut on U, clean the gunk out of the wheels of DUM-E. A creator giving careful attention to its creations - from JARVIS, the Asset, down to the bots which are threatened with exile every week and yet are still maintained to full efficiency. 

None of the bots have ever been powered down as punishment. The Soldier had asked JARVIS.

The Soldier is not meant to want, and yet the Soldier desires a different beginning for himself. What kind of Asset could he have been, if he had been created here in the workshop rather than with Hydra?

The Soldier has seen Stark cradle the coffee machine. He regularly checks up on the blender. He pats the freezer when he walks by. Stark gives his attention to many things, not all of which are his sole creation. Perhaps the Soldier’s mechanical arm could gain him that attention and care?

The Soldier is not meant to want, and yet…

He steps forward. And again, when his movements fail to gain Stark’s attention.

“Sir,” JARVIS prompts, and displays something on the screen Stark is frowning at so that Stark looks up. Perhaps the Soldier can yield the title of best Asset to JARVIS.

Stark’s frown clears when he focuses on the Soldier. “Oh hey, what’s up?” 

Stark twirls a wrench, his eyes flicking back and forth from the Soldier to the schematic, but he continues to smile at the Soldier. The Soldier hesitates. What would Bucky Barnes do? He shoves that thought back. He does not need Bucky Barnes for his mission. The Soldier is capable.

The Soldier holds out his left hand. “Maintenance is…,” he struggles for the correct word. He can’t force ‘wanted’ or ‘desired’ out of his mouth, but ‘required’ is inaccurate.

Stark’s gaze feels like a touch, though the Soldier knows that is impossible. But he now has the full force of Stark’s attention, and he struggles to not shiver under the onslaught.

“Say no more,” Stark says and then he’s striding over. “Your pal Steve forbid me from saying anything until you asked, and I know you didn’t really ask a question but I’m to take that as permission, yeah? You good? Come sit, okay, JARVIS will get the scans going and we’ll get you tuned up.”

The Soldier sits, and it’s the chair Stark had been spinning on. Stark’s chair, nothing like the Chair. It doesn’t even have armrests, the Soldier has to place his arm on the space Stark clears on the workshop table by swiping the rifle and other bits and pieces of metal to the ground. 

“There, that will give DUM-E something to do to. DUM-E, clean up on aisle three and don’t feel up our guest, okay? Full disclosure, I didn’t exactly give you a gun in hopes that I’d be rewarded like this, I was just thinking you could use a bit more leash on the collar you’re on right now. And look at that, now you have the evidence everyone wanted from you, right? No killing spree, not even a fly was harmed in the process. Alright, you comfy here?”

The Soldier nods. He has always felt things more, it seems, as the Soldier, but his skin is sending more feedback to his brain than expected. When Stark puts a hand on his shoulder, firm but no additional pressure, the Soldier  _ feels  _ it.

“Just relax. You’re in safe hands here, with J and I. Unless you keep looking at me like that, then I might have to do something about it…. Kidding, kidding, totally safe, I promise. No bad touches, J will make sure. He’s a party-pooper like that, aren’t you, J?”

“I do believe that is because we differ on the concept of a ‘party,’” JARVIS replies. “But I will do my best to be sure that Mr. Barnes’ comfort levels are not exceeded.”

“See? J’s got your back,” Stark tells the Soldier with a wink. Stark’s hand is still on the Soldier’s shoulder, the one that isn’t attached to the mechanical arm that the he hopes will interest Stark. Stark’s hand is even moving, the thumb swiping across his collar in a repeated movement that the Soldier focuses more of his attention on than is necessary. 

JARVIS can maintain the status as best Asset, if the Soldier gets this. 

“We’ll get you all tuned up. We might have to upgrade your code name even. Winter Captain? Winter Admiral? We’ll work on it, test it out on a few focus groups or something. Alright, you ready for this, soldier?”

The Soldier grins, not thinking about how to mimic Bucky Barnes’ smile.

“Affirmative.”


End file.
